Basketball Dynamics: Strategy, Pressure, and Performance

She is one of the best basketball players ever. She’s won multiple championships, including five Olympic gold medals and four W.N.B.A. titles. She also helped negotiate a landmark contract for the league’s players. Sue Bird tells Steve Levitt the untold truth about clutch players, her thoughts about the pay gap between male and female athletes, and what it means to be part of the first gay couple in ESPN The Magazine’s Body Issue.  

• SOURCE:
  • Sue Bird, former professional basketball player.

• RESOURCES:
  • "‘We’re Betting on Ourselves’: Why WNBA’s Landmark New Deal Is a Huge Win for Women’s Professional Sports," by Percy Allen (The Seattle Times, 2020).
  • "Sue Bird & Megan Rapinoe," (ESPN The Magazine Body Issue, 2018).
  • "Missed Shots at the Free-Throw Line: Analyzing the Determinants of Choking Under Pressure," by Mattie Toma (Journal of Sports Economics, 2015).

• EXTRAS:
  • "Marc Davis Can’t Stop Watching Basketball — But He Doesn’t Care Who Wins," by People I (Mostly) Admire (2021).
  • "The Hidden Side of Sports," series by Freakonomics Radio (2018-19).
  • "The True Story of the Gender Pay Gap," by Freakonomics Radio (2016).